Hair

Well, here is the new cut! I like it a lot more than I thought I would.



I have no idea what happened to my bangs today. It is hot, humid and windy so I guess that is whats wrong??

Hair

I have an appointment to get my hair cut tonight.

I am a little embarassed to admit that I am stressing about it. My hands are clammy and I have been sweating like a pig all day.

Ugh. Why can't I have normal hang ups like everybody else?!?

I am seriously so anxious about it I feel like I have to throw up. It is just a freaking haircut!

In my defense, I haven't had a haircut in over 5 years. My hair is L.O.N.G. Long like it touches my ass. And I am planning on cutting it ALL off. Short like chin length maybe. And bangs. The last time I had it cut, it was shoulder length and I hated it.

Hubbs and I even got in an argument about it yesterday morning. I said I was only going to have 4-5 inches cut off. He told me he thought I would look hot with it shorter. I said no, I don't think so. He said I was boring. So I told him he was an asshole and I went to work.

Stupid huh. See, we don't fight about things very often. And we don't fight about important things. We only fight about stupid shit that doesn't really matter in the long run. Like the length of my hair.

Awwww shit. I just realized I am probably going to have to learn how to use a blow dryer and a curling iron.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have some pictures to post!

Not Really Sure How To Feel

I just found out my baby sister is pregnant again.

She told my mom this morning. She is due the end of December.

Her and Nick (I think that is his name) are getting married. Not sure when, not sure where.

Holy shit.

I am in such shock right now.

I know it doesn't make any difference on their decision but I don't know how to feel about it. The only thing I do know is that I hope she doesn't go completely bat shit psycho like the last time she was pregnant.

Water Duh

We ended up not going camping for Memorial Day weekend because Hubbs went to work.

We went to the Creek instead. It is really called Clear Creek but it is anything but clear. It is about 9 miles out of town and is THE place to be in the summer. You can swim, fish, BBQ, camp, hike, and even geocache.

We went out Sunday evening after our naps but I didn't let the boys get in the water. I didn't plan on ending up there, we just got in the car and started driving around, so I didn't bring our swimsuits. We walked up and down the beach for about an hour. The boys were complaining that they were bored so we left and got root beer floats at Sonic before heading home.

On Monday, I was prepared. I woke up before them and put all their shovels, rakes and buckets in the trunk of the car. When they got up, I dressed them in their swimsuits and took them to Wal-mart (barefoot) to get the yearly supply of sandals. Then we went back to the Creek. They were super excited to be able to get into the water and play in the sand!

They were so excited that Bobblehead ended up running a little bit too far into the water and his clumsy ass tripped. Sploosh! I had JUST yelled at him for it maybe 2 minutes before. I was only about 5-6 feet away so he wasn't under the water for more than a few seconds. He honestly did a pretty good job at trying to keep his head above the water. I grabbed him, set him back up on his feet and made both boys come sit on the rocks with me for a little while.

I totally jumped on the chance to talk to them about how important it is to listen to me at all times. I tried to explain that I am a little bit more careful when we are around water because they can't swim and if they were to fall into the water I would have a hard time finding them because the water is so murky from the dirt. I am not sure Bobblehead understood what I was trying to tell them, but I know Monk Man did.

Being the overly cautious mom that I am, I picked up 2 bright red life jackets while I was out shopping for work. The boys tried them on yesterday and LOVED them. I am not seeing them giving me ANY hassle about wearing them. Hopefully the weather will stay nice so we can go this weekend.

I am really surprised at how uncomfortable I felt putting on my swimsuit! I can honestly say that I have very few body image issues. Sure, I have spots that jiggle and a lot of stretch marks and am SO pale. But that is all part of who I am and I can totally say that I am ok with my body at this point. But when I put my swimsuit and walked around the house (ugh not even out in public yet) I felt waaay to exposed. I ended up keeping my halter top on and putting jeans on instead of the swimsuit bottoms. Even semi-covered up I still felt so uncomfortable that I considered not even going at all.

By the end of the summer, I vow to be over whatever body issue I have all of a sudden developed. I can't let my boys miss out on having fun because I have this crazy hang up now.

Finally Over

We are finally done with the T-ball season.

Thank goodness.

This whole having 2-3 games a week at 4:00 was starting to get old. It is really hard for me to ask to leave early. I usually don't have any problems asserting myself at work but leaving early and taking days off makes me feel a little bad. Weird huh?

Plus it was getting kinda expensive!
$35 for enrollment
$85 for pictures
$25 for pants and socks
$10 for new shoes
$25 for a glove
$35 for a bigger glove
$50 for a glove for Hubbs
$25 for a Tee
$5 for a ball
(all close estimates)

Plus trips to the concession stand for Bobbleheads snacks to keep him from running around annoying everyone else around us. Yes, I admit it. I kept my 2 year old busy by stuffing his face with nachos, cheese fries, sno cones, ring pops, hot dogs, corn dogs, jerky, granola bars and whatever else I could get my hands on.

Oh and then there was the $30 I had to fork out for raffle tickets because I will not go around begging people to buy tickets to "win" a free oil change. I put the " because the raffle really isn't ever held. It is just another ploy to sucker people out of money.

Can you tell that I am not happy with how this whole thing turned out? But I will suck it up and let Monk Man play again next year because it makes him happy.

Where Did That Come From

Last night, after the boys went to bed, Hubbs and I were sitting in the living room, watching some cake baking show.

Hubbs: Just found out Erin is having another baby.
Me: Hmmm. That's nice.
Hubbs: You know, that makes her even with us.
Me: Yep.
Hubbs: We should have another baby. So, you know, we can stay ahead.
Me: (mouth dropping open and shaking my head back and forth) Oh no. No no no!
Hubbs: You don't want another baby?
Me: Fuuuuuuuck no.
Hubbs: Can we get another dog then?
Me: If it keeps you from even THINKING about us having another baby, yes. I will even let you go pick it out yourself.

I love my boys but the thought of getting pregnant again makes me want to run far far away. I am totally ok with adoption (of course) or even foster parenting in the future.

Ugh.

Busy Busy Busy!

Whoah! Has the past month been a whirlwind for anyone else??!!!??

SO much has happened since my last post.

My baby sister asked me and Hubbs if we would be willing to take Ollie (my nephew) if anything were to happen to her. Of course we said of course. Hubbs told my mom that we would be willing to take him right now if they would let us. Poor little guy just needs a family that would really love him. His sperm donor signed away all of his parental rights after a DNA test gave us proof that he was indeed the father. And my baby sister treats Ollie like an inconvenience. Yep, I would be more than happy to adopt my nephew.

Hubbs brought home a notice from work saying he was being offered a chance to relocate to Denver with a huge bonus. We are seriously considering it. The only thing we are waiting on is to hear back from one of the train masters to see if he has the right kind of seniority or whatever. I am SO excited at the possibility of being able to start over!

Monk Man is almost done with T-ball. Friday is his last game of the season. I am very much ready for that shit to be over with.

Hubbs and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. He bought me a laptop. I didn't buy him shit. I felt a little guilty about it but then I found out that he bought something himself.

Which brings me to the next topic. Hubbs bought a motor home yesterday. This big ass motor home has been living in my FIL's back yard for years. It belongs to step-MIL's parents. They live a few hours away and come down here during the summer because it gets super hot where they live. They pack up their motor home and hide in the woods all summer. They decided that they are getting too old for it and asked FIL to sell it for them. Which he did. To Hubbs.

So guess who gets to get a loan to pay for the damn thing? And get insurance? And find a place to store it? Ding Ding Ding. Me! AND all this needs to be done by Friday afternoon because we have plans to go camping over the 3 day weekend.

Ugh.

Damn This Wind

We have been having a horrible windstorm (70 mph gusts) since around 10:00 yesterday morning. The highway has been shut down since 11:00 am because the dirt blowing around is so thick that you cant see 5 feet in front of you. Since the highway is shut down, there are semi trucks and RVs parked on every street on both sides. It is close to impossible to drive down the main roads. All us locals are having to use the back roads. It sucks. And it gets worse.

Well, as I was going to bed last night, I happened to look out the kitchen window into the back yard. Our trampoline had flown around the laundry room, over a 4-foot fence, over a 15-foot crab apple tree, over another 4-foot fence, and into our neighbors side yard. It was sitting on its side against their house. I stood there for a few seconds in shock. After I composed myself, I made Hubbs get off his ass to come look.

After he saw that I wasn't kidding, he called our neighbors to come out and look too. They were amazed that nothing was busted and their DirecTv satellite was still intact. Between the 4 of us, we got the trampoline off its side (it is straddling the fence, half on our side and half on their side) and secured by tie-ing it to the fence and are going to deal with getting it back where it is supposed to go as soon as the wind dies down.

Ugh. I would have never thought that the wind would get so bad that our trampoline would go flying through the air. I would bet that it weighs 200+ pounds. We are SO lucky that no one was outside when it happened and that nothing was damaged. I am going to order trampoline anchors this morning so it doesn't happen again.

At least we get to go pick up our new car today?

New Car

Well, we bought a new car today.

We went to see an Impala and ended up with a bright red Dodge Charger.

The Impala was what we had decided on but then we found out the Charger was only $1k more. That was the end of the Impala.

I FINALLY have a fun car again.

I am SO not sad to see the HHR go bye bye. The car place is giving us the payoff amount ($7k) so we wont have to roll anything into the new loan.

Even better? We don't need a co-signer. Hubbs and I brought our credit scores up enough to qualify on our own with a decent interest rate. AND we are going to pay it off early. Right now we have $8k in credit card debt (down from $40k+ a few years ago) . Since Hubbs is working again, these will (hopefully) all be paid off in 4 months. Then we are going to start making higher payments on the car to get it paid off in 2 years, maybe less.

Stressing Out

Bobblehead is having dental surgery in a few hours, so here I am, at the butt crack of dawn and I am stressed out. He is only 2 and already has 3 cavities. We brush every morning and every night before bed and they still have cavities. Monk Man's teeth are worse.

Our pediatric dentist says that they just have soft teeth but I still feel like shit about it. My stupid mommy guilt makes me feel like there should have been something I could do to prevent it.

So he has his appointment at 9 but we have to be there early at 7:30 for paperwork and other stuff. That means I have to leave town at 6:30 to get there on time. The procedure is scheduled for 2 hours and then observation for however long it takes for him to wake up. Then that horrible hour drive home.

And somehow I have to figure out a time to go to the town on the other side of us to get Monk Man's birth certificate today too. Kindergarten sign ups are Wednesday and he needs an actual birth certificate. We only have a certificate of live birth and they won't accept that. I don't get it at all. It was good enough to get on State assistance but not good enough to get into school. Stupid but whatever.

Ugh. This is going to be one long ass day. Keep us in your thoughts today!

Small Appliances

How do you all store your small appliances?

I have a hall closet that I am trying to organize. It is my project for the rest of the week and weekend. Eventually I would like to be able to put our extra sheets and blankets in it instead of them being stacked a mile high on my dresser. My problem is that the hall closet is full of the small appliances that I don't have room for on the kitchen counter.

This is what all is in the closet: Belgian Waffle Iron, George Foreman Grill, hand mixer, small crockpot, electric can opener, electric griddle, a bunch of cookie cutters, a double boiler, a toaster, a Fry Daddy, Iced Tea Maker, another deep fryer, toaster oven, an electric cheese grater thing, bread machine, large crockpot, stand mixer and a spare coffee maker.

We use about half that stuff at least once a week, about 1/4 of the stuff once or twice a month and the other 1/4 just once in a while.

All of my kitchen cabinets are full of stuff we use (almost) every day. The cabinet above my stove has my glass baking dishes. Next to that are the plates and bowls. In the corner top are my "good" dishes and cups. In the corner bottom are my pots and pans. In the top cabinet next to that are my cookbooks. Above my sink is cereal and assorted breakfast stuff. Under my sink are dog treats, dish soap, baggies, trash bags, chips and canning jars. Top 2 cabinets next to the sink are my Tupperware type stuff, round in one, square in another. The last 2 top cabinets have liquor in them. The bottom last cabinet has mixing bowls and the long BBQ grill utensils like tongs and flippers.

I guess I *could* put some of the things on the kitchen counter, like the toaster, the can opener and maybe the George Foreman grill. I just hate how cluttered it looks and how it takes up the counter space. It is bad enough with the microwave and the good coffee pot there right now.

I would LOVE to be able to put in an island to store it all in but then I wouldn't have room for the kitchen table. Is there any way that an island could be used as a dining space? I honestly have no idea because I am not really in to that kind of stuff.

Help!!!! Links to whatever you suggest are very much appreciated. I am off to Google some things.

28

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's 9:30 P.M.

and I should be getting ready for bed.

But what am I doing? Listening to Billy Idol and painting my kitchen.

Well, painting with primer and not the whole kitchen, just where the stove is going tomorrow.

The old stove got taken out and I almost threw up when I saw what kind of yuck I was dealing with. There was so much gross under the stove it was embarrassing. I was hunkered down with my teeny broom and dustpan sweeping up the dog food when I noticed the mouse poop. Barf. We haven't fed the dogs in the kitchen in over a year so I have convinced myself that the poo was from then. The floor got bleached and then I scrubbed it with 409 and a toothbrush. My floors are now cleaner than they were when the tile was installed.

And the walls. OMG the walls were just as nasty. The areas I can reach are clean but behind the stove is another story. It was so bad that after scrubbing with 1)Vinegar, 2) 409 and then 3) a Mr Clean Magic Eraser, it still looked horrible. Some spots I had scrubbed the paint off and other spots were stained.

So I decided to primer it. It should be dry now.

Off to put a 2nd coat on the walls and find a mouse trap. Just. In. Case.

I Broke It

So...............I broke my oven.

*snort*

Ok, everybody show me your surprised face!

The last time I used it, I baked a cake. When I tried to use it Thursday night, it wouldn't work. The pilot light comes on but the gas can't get to the flame.

Friday night, I kept turning the knob and listening for the gas to hiss but nothing. Plus I kicked it a couple of times, just in case kicking something that was broken would magically make it work again.

Saturday was crazy busy with T-ball opening day crap so I didn't even think about the oven.

Sunday I was craving Baked Mac & Cheese so I broke down and called my dad. He came by, got his old ass on the floor, opened up the little oven thing on the bottom and said......"The gas isn't getting to your pilot light."

No shit dad! That is what I told you over the phone. LoL

He says that it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new stove since there isn't anyone here in town that we know of that fixes appliances.

Today, my parents met me at the furniture store and I picked out a new stove. I told the store owner to put it on Hubbs' account but my parents insisted on paying for it.

My old stove was at least 7 years old but probably closer to 15. We got it used from a family friends estate sale. It was plain and hillbilly. There were only 3 knobs on it when we got it, 2 burners and the oven knob. We ended up losing 1 of the burner knobs years ago. Plus the back two burners didn't work. It was defiantly time for something new.

My new stove has a self cleaning oven, a timer and a clock, plus a simmer burner. The self cleaning oven and the simmer burner are tied as to which feature I am most excited about. Oh, and it is white! Not off white and black like the old one or avocado green like what was in there when we moved in.

How lame am I to be SO excited over such a simple stove? I really can't wait for it to be installed tomorrow because I am TIRED of the microwave and the crockpot.

The bad thing is that as soon as the old stove is moved out tonight, I get to start scrubbing the walls and floors to get all the yuck off. I had other plans for tonight: sitting on my ass in front of the T.V. But at least it is something that I can cross off my spring cleaning list.

Back To Work

Hubbs left yesterday morning to chase his job. Luckily he got into a depot that is only the next state over instead of all they way across the country. He has to do 14 unpaid training trips but after that, he will be getting paid the big bucks again.

Hooray! The boys miss him terribly already but I keep telling them that Hubbs will be able to come home every 5-7 days. And even better? It looks like he will be able to work there for as long as he wants to. I guess it is a huge train yard and the pay isn't all that great so nobody really wants to work it if they can hold anywhere else. But not so great pay is much better than unemployment.

Busy Busy!

Has it been a crazy ass week for anyone else?

I am so overwhelmed but VERY happy it is Friday again.

Monday: Typical Monday, busy as hell. People dropping off cars, picking up cars, renting cars, towing cars, ugh. Plus all the phone calls with all the stupid questions that go along with the car business. I was lucky to get half of my lunch break. I was running around all day. The wind was awful. I am talking about 30-40 mph winds. ADOT shut down the highways.

Tuesday: Got to work for 30 minutes before I get a call from my mother. Bobblehead is barfing all over the bathroom again. I need to come get him. Awww, do I have to? I would much rather be at work than at home cleaning up puke. Hubbs had to go to the "Big City" an hour away so he could get a physical. He is thisclose to getting back to work. I am SO happy. He promised to go there and hurry back so I could get back to work. Well, that didn't exactly happen. He got home around 4:15 so it was pointless to go back to the shop. Shithead.
Monk Man had his first T-ball practice Tuesday afternoon. There was no way I was going to miss that. So I dropped Bobblehead back off at my moms house and took Monk Man to practice. It was downright freezing. Monk Man found out the hard way that you can't pay attention to where the balls are if you are dancing around the outfield. He got hit in the cheek with a baseball.

Wednesday: Bobblehead is better so I get to go back to work. Yay! Both bosses are gone so of course it is busy as hell again. It is almost an exact repeat of Monday. Bleh. I think spring is finally here. It is nice and warm outside again.

Thursday: The morning was non stop craziness. I finally escape for lunch and found a stack of estimates to enter into the computer waiting for me when I got back. I re-entered so many estimates that my eyes burned the whole afternoon. The (only) good thing I can think about it is that business is FINALLY starting to pick up again. My bosses have been soooo stressed about business lately.

Friday: Friday must be my lucky day. I had another stack of estimates waiting for me when I got to work this morning but the parts arrived just at the right times to give me a break from the computer when I needed one. Right before I get to go to lunch, the boss calls me into his office. Aw crap. As it turns out, he has noticed how much I have been doing lately, how I have been busting my ass to make things run smoothly for everybody, how business is finally picking up, how I have the parts here when they are needed.....etc.
I GOT A RAISE!!!!!
I went from $8.25/hour to $10.00/hour. I couldn't be happier. It is a little sad to admit this but, this is the most I have ever been paid per hour. With the exception of when I was a waitress and make a ton of cash because, well, cash doesn't count.
AND, I found out what my mom got me for my birthday. I turn 28 in a couple of weeks and she has been on my ass about what I wanted. I honestly couldn't think of anything. I told her that we needed a new mattress. LoL Anyway she called me this morning and asked if I would be happy with a new camera instead. Of course I would be! It is this one. A Samsung S860, 8.1 mega pixel digital camera. I have a shitty Kodak Easy Share but as I have complained about before, it eats batteries like crazy and I have been thinking about saving up for a nice one.
So yay for Fridays!

My Friend

There is this guy that I am friends with. His name is Jesse. I have known him my entire life. We went to church together. We went to school together. We graduated together. But after graduation, we went off to do our own things and lost touch.

Well, right after I started working at the body shop, he was in town on leave from the Coast guard to visit his dad and just happened to stop in to see my boss. I was SO surprised to see him. We have run into each other a few times and talked on the phone a little since then. Now he is a friend on Facebook and his status update yesterday made me proud to be his friend.

His status said that he has decided to do a fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer research. I don't have many details other than he is going to ride his bike a crazy long distance (like across the country) and it will start sometime in September when he gets discharged from the Coast Guard.

His mom died from breast cancer when we were 9. I can still remember how frail and tired she looked right before she lost her battle.

Anyway, he was asking for suggestions on how to get it all started and tips to make sure the fundraising goes smoothly. He also wants to write about the whole process from the beginning. One of his sisters suggested creating a blog or website to help spread the word about what he is doing as well as somewhere to record his experiences. I suggested he create a paypal account for it and get that paypal donate button/widget. I also told him that I would do whatever I could to help him out, whether it be going to the local businesses to ask for donations or building him a blog or helping him get a non-profit thing together. Anything.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, I would be happy to pass it along to him.

RNC at the Strip Club?

Republican National Committee spent $1,946 at titty bar.

Wow. That is a shitload of money. Totally unacceptable!

Really, who thought that would be a good idea?

For what it is worth, I would be just as flabbergasted if the Democratic party (or anybody for that matter) did that. I have decided to not be affiliated with ANY political party. They all suck right now, in my opinion. But that is enough about my ideas on politics.

I am a fan of strip clubs and even I can say that it was a very bad decision.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was discovered. Deep down inside, yes, I am drawn to drama. Especially when it doesn't involve something I did.

Semi Slacker

I had grand plans to make fondant (thanks for the other recipe kimbosue!) this weekend but I got distracted.

I FINALLY got my moms old bread machine. It has been sitting in one of her closets for years. She put it in the closet when she got her new one and hung on to it, just because. She has offered it to me a few times but never could find it when I came to get it.

So my sister was looking for something else and came across the bread machine. Thankfully she remembered that I wanted it and grabbed it for me.

Anyway, I made 3 loaves this weekend. The first loaf didn't turn out very awesome. My brain didn't register that 1 tsp salt was 1 teaspoon salt, not 1 Tablespoon. Gag. That loaf went in the compost without a second thought.

The 2nd and 3rd loaves turned out much better. The bread is a little heavy and thick but they taste amazing slathered in real salted butter (not margarine)!

I was actually making the 3rd loaf when Hubbs got home from his weekend adventure at the lake. Picture me, in the kitchen, wearing my semi-girly apron, shaking my booty to pop music (*cough*Lady Gaga*cough*), and measuring flour. For some reason, he considered it one of the strangest and most funny things he had ever seen me do. He was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Normally I don't like to be in the kitchen, am not girly, and despise pop music. Shaking my booty was the only "normal" thing I was doing. Maybe knowing all that, combined with the whole "she's in the kitchen, lets hope no one gets food poisoning" thing was what was so funny? He won't talk about it so I may never know for sure.

Maybe some time this week I will get around to making a practice cake.

He's Baaaack

Months ago, I posted about a pain in the ass customer hitting on me and using his backward ass slang. Dunno if anyone remembers or not.

Well, Mr. PITA is back. He JUST walked in the office. When I told him that the boss was delivering a car to another shop and would be back in about half an hour, he walked over to my desk and asked "Well, how bout I jus stan heah an watch ya?"

Translation: Well, how about I just stand here and watch you?

I said, "Um, no. But you can have a seat right over there if you want to wait."

Ugh. Then he asked what I meant by no. Hello stupid! You are old and creepy. You think you are hot shit with your old ass hanging out of your sagging pants, just like the gang bangers. If I had to guess at his age, I would say late 60s. He used to work with my dad and his grand kids are my age.

If he was paying cash instead of going through an insurance claim, I would totally have asked him to leave. Why does it make a difference? Because if the customer complains to their insurance company, we can be dropped from their referral program. And we jump through too many hoops to get into their referral programs for me to screw it all up by going psycho on some asshole.

Good News Finally

Hubbs has found out that he can hold a railroad job again. Hooray! He still can't work out of the local yard yet but can work out of a yard an hour and a half away.

Anywhere is better than nowhere. LoL. So that means we can start adding $$ to our sad little savings account and start paying off our debt again. Plus we will have our health insurance back. Yay for no more State Funded help!

He took off to the lake with a few friends this weekend so I am at home alone with the boys until Sunday. I needed something fun to do so I am going to practice my cake making skills.

Monk Man is turning 5 in May (OMG) and wants a Sponge Bob birthday. And he REALLY wants a Sponge Bob birthday cake. That is what I am going to attempt to make this weekend. I think I am going to try a sponge cake (boxed if I can find such an animal) and cover it with home made fondant.

This is the recipe I am going to try:
To make your own fondant, melt 16 oz. of marshmallows, with 2 tbsp. of water in the top of a double boiler. Stir until the marshmallows melt. Sift 4 cups of confectioners' sugar into a large bowl and pour the melted mixture in, stirring the mixture until it forms a ball. Turn the mixture onto a clean flat surface, covered with additional confectioner's sugar and knead until the fondant forms a soft, but firm, ball. Add additional sugar until it is no longer sticky, up to 3 more cups. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 24 hours before using.

Super tough thing to try. Never worked with anything other than tub frosting and even that comes out looking like shit. LoL I will post pictures (good or bad) if I can find the camera.

Oh, and one other thing...........The bathroom has 2 coats of paint on it finally. Now all that is left is painting the ceiling and the trim white and finishing the tile/grout work. Almost done!!!!

Momma on High Alert

So the last few days I have been noticing an older (like 1980s) blue Chevy van driving around the neighborhood. I normally don't pay attention to the junk driving down our street. But this van was driving around and around and around. Plus it looked like the stereotypical child molester van. Cardboarded up windows and all. So yeah, I noticed it. I had just guessed that they were new in the neighborhood and were lost or something.

My next door neighbor, Kari (also my current BFF) came by today while I was feeding the boys lunch to tell me to be careful because she and Mark had an "encounter" with this van and the dude driving it.

She is a big bad biker chick and doesn't spook easily so I am totally taking her advice.

She said that while she was in the gas station yesterday, she saw this creepy guy standing at the door, watching her walk around the store. When she got in line to pay, he came and stood behind her. Her cashier was slower than the other one so the creepy dude was checked out before her. She watched him walk over to the van. She watches him watch her walk across the parking lot and get in her Blazer. When she gets out on the street, he pulls away from the gas pump and follows her all the way home.

Why she went home instead of the police station when she figured out he was really following her is beyond me. At this point in her story I interrupted her and asked WTF she was thinking because now he knows where she lives. She said that she wasn't scared for herself, she was scared for me and the boys.

When she got home and all locked up inside, she called Mark and told him what was going on. Somehow he saw the van parked across the street from one of his friend's house. Mark pulled up behind the van and looked inside. He says that the whole van was full of kids toys. The creepy dude comes out of the back yard of the house he is parked at. When Mark starts to walk up to him to find out why he was following Kari, the creepy dude takes off running.

So instead of chasing him, Mark gets back in his truck, calls the police and tells them what has happened so far. The police run the license plates. The information from the plates comes back clean (not stolen, no warrants, etc) but the police have already heard about the creepy dude.

As it turns out, there have already been 12 individual women that have called the police about this creepy dude. They also said that he is probably targeting not only women but little kids as well. That makes sense because of all the toys in his van.

BUT, then they said that there wasn't really anything they could do until he actually does something.

Wait, hold on a minute. Since when does following a woman home (numerous women) not count as DOING SOMETHING????? Is he going to have to break into a house or snatch up one of our kids before something is done to him?

Heaven help the man if he shows up at my door or sneaks in my back yard. I have a 9mm handgun and I sure as shit know how to use it. It is a Star something and it looks just like THIS one.

So other than having a gun and knowing how to use it, keeping the doors and gates locked, not letting the kids play in the front yard, not letting them play in the back yard alone, and being aware of MY surroundings, what else can I do to protect myself and the kids?

FWIW, I don't think I am getting overly worried about this. We are a small, tight knit town where everybody knows everybody else. We try to look out for each other. Non-locals stick out and word travels fast when something isn't 100% normal, like this creepy dude. Plus there is that mommy intuition that I try to listen to whenever it rears its head.

Bored

I am bored as hell today. I have already blogstalked, read all my forums, checked my emails and cleaned out my purse. It is only, what, 2:30? I am stuck here until 5.

Ugh.

Under Control

I have got to get my home under control. I figured this out while I was tearing the living room apart looking for a Wii controller that had working batteries.

Ugh. We have junk everywhere. I have brand new dishes in the bedroom. I have boxes of clothes to be put in the yard sale (as soon as it gets warm enough to have one) sitting in the living room. I have half of our camping stuff in my pantry and the other half in my gardening shed. The bathroom Mulligan has come to a complete stop for the time being. The door is back up, btw.

Hubbs has decided that we don't have a "stuff" issue, we have a space issue. He wants to buy a house and use the trailer as a rental.

What? You want to move out of the trailer that we own free and clear and buy a house? Get a mortgage?

I told him that he was going bat-shit crazy. Especially since he hasn't worked in 16 MONTHS!

His response was, "Don't you want new furniture?" Duh? No new furniture. Especially if it comes with a mortgage. Dummy.

I would LOVE to have a house. And we could totally get a house for cheap cheap cheap right now. But I don't want to have a mortgage. Ever. Did I mention he has been furloughed for 16 months?

It is very realistic to pay cash for a house here. A decent 3-4 bedroom 2 bath house runs around $50-75k. If we ever get out of credit card debt, the car paid off and his ass back to work, we could easily save up $75k in about 2 years. My goal is to save up enough cash to have BIL come from Colorado and build us our house. He owns his own construction company and builds AMAZING houses for the rich people in ski towns.

So my answer to the stuff/space issue is to tackle 1 room every weekend. That would include:
1) Pulling every single thing out of the room
2) Deep cleaning-walls, floors, vents, lights, closets
3) Addressing any issues (like socket covers, burned out bulbs, holes, paint) immediately
4) Organizing junk into 4 piles: keep, throw out, yard sale and donate
5) Find everything in the keep pile a home in the room
6) Take the throw out pile to the dump, box up the yard sale pile and take the donate pile to the local donation places

And then move on to the next room. It doesn't sound like much fun but I think if I stick to it, I can get it all done in 2 months. And then all I have to do is maintain it.

That makes a lot more sense than buying a whole new house. It would be psuedo-moving. If I make Hubbs help he might realize just how much work moving really is.

T-Ball

T-Ball sign ups are tomorrow. I already put a notification in my phone to remind me. Plus, Monk Man overheard Hubbs talking to someone about it. There is no way in hell he is going to let me forget to get him signed up.

The only problem is that he doesn't have the required Birth Certificate. When he was born, the hospital gave me a Certificate of Live Birth thing instead of a Birth Certificate for some reason. I have never been given any problems about using it and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can continue having no problems about it until I can find the time to take a day off to get the real thing.

To Add Fuel To The Fire

On top of all that nonsense I posted about earlier.....

I get home and Bobblehead is still in the same damn diaper I put him in this morning. How do I know? They use Pampers and we use Parent's choice (because I am a cheap ass).

This is such bullshit. There are 5 able bodied adults there. There is no reason that he should have to sit in a wet diaper all day. Someone could have changed a diaper. It isn't even the first time this shit has happened either.

Ugh. Time to look into daycare (that we can't afford) for him now too I guess.

Toxic Family

Like I don't have enough issues to deal with anyway, now here is all this mess!

Monk Man is sick. We had been giving him breathing treatments all weekend and the cough seemed better this morning. He didn't have a fever or anything, just a cough, so he went to daycare.

The daycare lady texted me, saying that he had been coughing non stop since I dropped him off and she was afraid it was going to make him barf. I sent my mom over to pick him up since I am swamped at work and she lives right next door.

He wasn't at my mom's house an hour when she called and said that I needed to come pick him up. I told her I was the only one at the shop at the moment so there wasn't anything I could do. I made the mistake of asking what the hell was going on because, after all, he had only been there for less than an hour. How much trouble could he really be causing?

As it turns out, he wasn't the one being a shit head. It was my dad. My father was picking on his 4 year old grandson. Again. This time, every time Monk Man coughed, my dad would start screaming at him to cover his mouth or run to the toilet. Then he would go on and on about how he "doesn't want fing god damn barf all over the floor because the kid is being a baby". THAT is the exact wording that I heard come from his own mouth while I was on the phone.

Umm, excuse me? What did you just say to/about my son?

Being fed up, I bluntly told my mom that she just needed to take the boys to my house because I wasn't putting up with that bull shit directed towards my kids.

Seriously, if you want to be an asshole to your own kids, fine, that is your choice. But don't EVER be like that to mine and let me find out about it.

Ugh. I am so pissed off right now I could go over there and just punch him in the face. What kind of person treats a CHILD like that? It isn't like Monk Man can control it. He has a cough!

My dad didn't used to be like that. I don't know what the hell his problem is but it had better stop right now if he wants to see his grandsons.

Monk Man LOVES my dad. And my bitchy sister. He worships the ground they walk on and they both treat him like shit. It has gotten worse and worse in the last few months.

He begs to be able to go to my mom's house instead of daycare. This morning was bad. He kept crying "I wanna see Papa!" I asked him why he would want to go somewhere he was treated so badly and hugged him.

Anybody have any advice before I start punching people?

Of course there is the obvious answer, don't let Monk Man over there. But when neither of us can leave work, what else can I do?

The easiest (really, it is) option would be to pack up the family and move to where Hubbs could hold his stupid railroad job and I would be able to stay home with the kids but that isn't really possible right now either.

I need a drink.

Bathroom Remodel

Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into?

As if I didn't already have enough half-finished projects, I started remodeling the bathroom. Well, it isn't exactly a whole remodel, more like a do over. When we started fixing up our home, we had just found out I was pregnant with Monk Man.

We ended up half assing the kitchen, hallway and bathroom. We are totally paying for it now. We have sinks leaking and ruining everything in the cabinets (plus the actual cabinet in the bathroom), the tub/shower is rusting and the PVC surround thing is starting to come loose. That is just a few of the problems I have found lately.

It is a mess. So since we have a little extra $$, we are taking a Mulligan on the bathroom and starting over.

Wish us luck! It is going to be quite the adventure. Again.

Hubbs just texted me to tell me that he is taking the bathroom door off to fix the side that the dogs tried to dig through. What am I going to do without a bathroom door? Seriously, I cant even THINK about going into the bathroom without the boys wanting to know what I am doing. I wonder if it is too late to decide to call a do-over on the kitchen first instead?

If I can find a memory card and the camera before we start working on it tonight, I will try to snap some pictures so you all can see what I am living with.

Work LoL

There was an ice cream truck parked outside the shop when I got back from lunch. It was here for exhaust work. That in itself was pretty funny. But it gets better.

The boss lady kept looking at it and saying "It is so small! It's so short!". Jack was on his way out the door and said "Well, you know, what it lacks in length, it really makes up for in power."

Snort. I couldn't hold back. I am not so good at stifling giggles let alone full blown gut busting laughter.

So he gives me a funny look for a second and then it clicks. He turns red, tells me to shut up and goes out the door laughing. The boss lady keeps asking me what he had said. It takes me a while to pull myself together enough to repeat what he said.

Before I could get all the words out of my mouth, SHE starts laughing uncontrollably. We laugh and laugh. The big boss comes out of the bathroom just shaking his head at us because he had overheard everything.

When Jack comes back inside the office a little later he is all embarrassed. The big boss comes out of his office and says "Dude, you had these girls ROLLING!" We both cracked up laughing again. When we finally calmed down, Jack told me that I suck and have a dirty mind. Duh?

Now my sides hurt. But that is part of what I like about this job. I don't have to be professional 100% of the time.

Charlie Sheen

Oh.My.Hell. When did Charlie Sheen turn into such a douchebag?

Apparently on Christmas he got arrested for criminal assault? On his wife? Here is the article I read this morning.

Ugh. Guys that hit women are dirtbags and SHOULD have their asses handed to them in prison.

The most baffling thing about it? His wife wants to stay married to him. Seriously, what is her problem? I can't understand why anyone would want to live with that constant fear of being murdered in your sleep by your significant other.

I have been there. I have had boyfriends knock me around when I was a teenager. I just don't understand why someone would stay and keep putting themselves through that shit. Mind boggling.

If Hubbs ever, ever, ever hit me out of anger or frustration or just because, he would be thrown out of my home so fast that his head would spin. Now, we do wrestle and donkey punch each other but that is all in play. That is totally different. He has never put a hand on me in anger and he knows better than to even consider it.

If my boys only learn one thing from me it will be that you don't hit girls. Ever.

It Is A Conspiracy

So do you remember my post from Friday about enjoying being "one of the guys"?

I think someone is trying to send me a hint that I need to be a little more *gag* girly.

Why do I think this?

A wife of one of Hubb's friends invited (and went) to a jewelry party 2 Fridays ago. I actually bought a necklace. Very tasteful. No pink, no hearts, no sparkles. It was a plain silver circle on a silver chain. When I got home, Hubbs started calling me Flava Flav so the necklace went into retirement. Fast forward to last Friday. My step-MIL brought me an invitation to the shop right before we closed. For another freaking jewelry party.

Ugh. These kind of chicks (no offence to any of the girly girls out there) usually don't like to be around me when they HAVE to, let alone willingly INVITE me to hang out with them. It is uncomfortable for them. It is uncomfortable for me. I have accepted that.

But you know me. I am going to go. And probably buy something.

Maybe it IS time for a little change. But I don't even know where to start. Or even what to change.

I don't wear nail polish. The only jewelry I wear is my wedding/engagement ring. Maybe a pair of earrings if I am feeling feisty. I only wear makeup on my eyes. No lipstick, foundation, blush, etc. I have never had a manicure, pedicure or my eyebrows waxed. I don't wear dresses and only wear skirts when I have to. I am a jeans kind of girl. I am low maintenance. So low maintenance that I don't even own a scale.

Butter Thief

This morning, as I was toweling off from my shower, I heard the stomp stomp stomp of a little boy trying to "sneak" past the bathroom door undetected.

My boys "sneak" like this: crouched over, stomping as hard as they can then raising up on their tip toes. It is very cute and I love it because they totally think they are being sneaky.

So I wrapped my towel around myself and flung open the door just in time to see Bobblehead disappear into his room. He only "sneaks" when he is doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing. I was dieing to find out so I tiptoed down the hall and peeked into his room.

He was hiding under his bed, eating a stick of butter.

Barf.

Artsy Fartsy Time

I am going to dust off my woodworking skills that my grandpa taught me when I was a pre-teen and build the boys a play kitchen.

We are too cheap to buy a plastic kitchen. Even if we weren't, Hubbs is totally against the idea of the boys playing with a pink stove.

So we are drawing up plans for the kitchen now. I will post pictures someday!

One Of The Guys

I really like being one of the guys sometimes.

This afternoon, the shop is slow and all the bosses are gone. So it is just me and Jack sitting around listening to the satellite radio. He picked the Canadian Uncensored comedy station.

Oh.My.Hell! I have never heard comedy this good. Cock jokes, fart jokes, sex jokes. I have laughed and laughed all afternoon!

My sides hurt so bad.

Teeth

The family has dentist appointments this month. I had to find a new dentist because my old one won't take state sponsored insurance. Monk Man was supposed to go tomorrow but of course he came down with a sore throat and swollen tonsils yesterday. Bobblehead is sick too but he seems to be getting the croup again.

So I am taking Monk Mans appointment tomorrow and he is going to take my appointment next Thursday.

The boys were blessed with my shitty, messed up, soft teeth.

I was in braces for 6 years so my teeth are straight. Right now I need another root canal (that will make 3) and some cavities taken care of. I also have a cracked-in-half tooth from a root canal filling that didn't hold that needs something done to it. I am a hot mess.

I plugged our W-2 numbers into an online calculator and found out that we are getting back waaayyyyy more than I expected. Hubbs and I were discussing what we wanted to do with the money. He wants a new computer and I want my teeth veneered and capped. But instead, we have to do the adult thing and put all the money in the checking account to live on because we still don't know how long Railroad Unemployment is going to last or if he is ever going to get to go back to work. Plus we might need that money for our business venture that is in the works.

But I really want my teeth to be pretty. I will ask this new dentist for a price on veneers and caps tomorrow while I am there. Maybe he can give me a better price than my old dentist did. Which was around $1500 (if I remember right) to cap and veneer every tooth, in case anyone was wondering.

Like I Needed Another Excuse

to eat at Burger King.

Beer at Burger King

The existing BKs won't be having the "Whopper Bars" installed. Instead, BK will be building new restaurants, starting in South Beach. Cities like Vegas and Los Angeles with a high tourist population will be next.

Personally, I wouldn't mind having one of these in my town. But I can see why people would be upset about it.

So Lazy Today

I have no motivation today.

It started pouring rain last night around 10:30 and it still hasn't stopped. Right now, I think I see a few snow flakes mixed in with the rain but that could be my eyes messing with my brain.

I found out at lunch that our county is under a "State of Emergency". There is a big command center set up somewhere and have this evacuation plan ready.

I can see it as both a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing: It is possible that the Little Colorado River will get too full after it stops raining and the snow melts next week. It is possible that it will flood some of the houses outside the city limits (including Lonnie and Sharon's house).

Bad thing: People are already freaking out. I drove by Safeway and Walmart on my way back to work and the parking lots were packed!

I had to feel kinda bad for the people that waited until Today to get semi-prepared for this storm. But then again, it is their own fault. We have known about this storm since Monday and it isn't even as bad as the weather people predicted it to be.

I, on the other hand, am more than prepared. LoL Of course I am. We have even offered to take in our friends (and their pets) that might get flooded until everything dries out a little.

Ok, that is definitely snow that I see.

I Can't Believe It

While Hubbs was busy (probably doing something stupid) this morning, Monk Man and Bobblehead found my Oreo stash.

Really, what I think happened is that Hubbs tried to sneak a cookie or 2 this morning after I had left for work. The boys must have watched him not hide it well enough. I hide them very well behind all the booze in our liquor cabinets. Hubbs isn't a good hider. He isn't very observant either apparently.

The boys had just enough time to devour the ENTIRE package.

Just the thought of it makes me sick. My poor Oreos. They weren't the normal, average Oreos either. They were the White Fudge covered Oreos. You know, the "better than sex" ones.

They tried to keep it a secret! I walked into the boys bedroom at lunchtime and saw the crumbs on their bed and the box peeking out from under the bed.

So of course now that I am here at work, the Oreos are the only things I can think about. Hubbs had better be at the store right now getting me a new box of Oreos.

With Kids. And Dogs. In A Tent. 1-10

This wintery weather is giving me a bad attitude. I am tired of the ice and cold. And the thought of it ONLY being January pisses me off even more.

I need to blog about something that lifts my spirits and that I can look forward to when winter is finally over.

Camping! With kids. And dogs. In a tent.

Right now, the idea of being able to get away from people makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I would pack everybody up and head out to the woods right now except for the little freezing to death issue. I am going to try and post 10 camping tips at least once a week until spring. Or until I run out of useful things to say. Or until I forget.

For the readers that might have missed all my Camping Is Fun posts this summer, here is a little history. For those of you who have already read about it, you can skip the next 3 paragraphs.

Up until last summer (2009) we really hadn't done much as a family. My boys are little hellions so I avoided public things as much as possible. Plus I don't really like to be around a bunch of people. So that means the Circus, the Fair, Water parks, the zoo, the Carnival, Disney Land, for the love of pete even the mall, all those things are BAD ideas for us.

Anyway, some time last summer, Hubbs had the brilliant idea of trying camping. We went on our very first "As A Family" camping trip in August (I think) and we were hooked. We spent almost every weekend of August and September out in the woods.

It solved our problems with not spending time together and not doing much with the boys.

So here are 1-10 of my tips for camping with kids. And dogs. In a tent.
1) Bring twice as many diapers. It is inevitable that Bobblehead gets the squirts for at least half of a day when we are camping.
2) Bring 3 times the wipes. I have baby wipes everywhere. In the car, in the tent, in the diaper bag, in all 3 of the trucks, at work, in every room of our home. Baby wipes are great for those "good enough" cleanings, especially when you are camping. Marshmallowy fingers? Get the wipes. Dirty face? Get the wipes. Need to blow your nose? Get the wipes. They also take makeup off.
3) Dress in layers. Even for bed. Out here, the temperature changes quickly. It can go from hot and sunny to cold and rainy in no time.
4) Don't forget the sunscreen. I got a horrible sunburn on one of the trips. I was sitting under the trees, in the shade and still got burned.
5) Remember the First Aid Kit! Someone always gets hurt.
6) If foods need to be cut up, do it at home and not at camp if at all possible. You know all those Ziploc containers we can get for cheap/free? The ones with the blue lids? Those are PERFECT to use to store food in a cooler. They seal up well enough to keep the melted ice out and they stack!
7) If you can find one, buy a plastic egg holder. You will know it when you see it. Look in the camping section at Walmart or Big 5. It is bright yellow and folds up. Now it will NOT keep water off of your eggs but it WILL keep your eggs from breaking better than the egg cartons which disintegrate in a cooler. Ok, I found a green one at amazon.com
8) Bring Glow Sticks! The bracelet size is perfect. As soon as it starts to get dark, break out the glow sticks and cover your kids in them. Arms, legs, belt loops, anywhere you can. They help me keep track of the boys in the dark and they help the boys get to sleep in the tent. They also help me keep track of the dogs in the dark. 1 bracelet sized stick around the little dogs neck, 2 around the big dogs neck. If you are camping with a group, the glow sticks will make you the coolest mom in camp for the night.
9) Bring REAL shoes. Like sneakers with laces. If you are anything like me and live in sandals in the summer, you will want to fight this tip. BUT good shoes are a must! I wear my sandals when I am driving up to our camping spot but change into real shoes as soon as we start unloading our stuff. I put my sandals inside the tent until after the kids are asleep and I don't have to chase anyone or even walk farther than the pee bush.
And 10) Make sure all the food is put away before you start getting drunk. This includes the dog food and even the garbage. We had a furry friend run off with all the dog food on our first camping trip because we forgot to put our stuff away. I learned my lesson and everything gets put away before the kids even get put to bed.

Check back next week for tips 11-20. Maybe. If I don't forget. :)

Thanks!

Thank you all for the encouragement today!

This afternoon has been harder to deal with than this morning was but I am still going strong.



P. S. What is up with all the spam lately? I have had to delete more spam comments today than I ever have had to.

I am enabling the word verification thing again until the spamming dies down.

Big Day Today

I am quitting smoking today.

I have smoked since I was 16 so 11 years. I have tried to quit 3 times and failed miserably all 3 times. Hopefully the 4th time is the charm.

Hubbs is quitting too. But he gets to quit his Skoal habit as well as his smoking.

Yay for no more spitter cans laying around the house just waiting to be knocked over.

I think once I have kicked my habit, I will become a better mom. Lately, I have been kind of slacking on doing things with the boys. I won't have any excuses not to.

Keep your fingers crossed that I can get through the next couple of day without killing anyone!

Where Has The Time Gone

Seriously, it is already the 8th and not one post from me yet.

Ok, so I will start with our horrible drive up to MIL last weekend. We got out of town early, like 7:30. We are driving along the highway, doing good. All of a sudden, not even an hour out of town there is snow, icy roads and fog. Great.

We get through all that, through Gallup and on a different highway. Right between Gallup and Shiprock, in the middle of nowhere, the car in front of us slams on their brakes. Hubbs taps his breaks and we just happen to be on an ice patch.

I, of course, am not wearing my seat belt because I was turned around yelling at Monk Man to get his ass in his seat. This is where I get a little fuzzy. I hear Hubbs say, "Oh Shit" so I turn forwards and we are spinning into the other lane of traffic. We hadn't spun far enough to get out of the ice so we kept sliding. And sliding. I see this giant pile of dirt on the side of the road and we are sliding sideways into it. Since I am a dumbass, I braced myself. I planted my feet in the floor, covered my face with one arm, stuck my other arm against the door, took a deep breath and stiffened up. When we hit the dirt, it was about a foot away from my window.

Then we started to tip. I remember thinking, "How the hell am I going to get the kids out if we roll?" Luckily, there wasn't enough momentum to make us roll. But we did hit hard enough to separate the 2 right side tires from the wheel bead. By the time Hubbs got us turned around the right direction and on the right side of the road the front tire had already gone flat but the rear tire was losing air much slower.

We sat on the side of the road for 2 damn hours. I called my shop first to see if they could track down a tow truck. Nothing. I called 911 to see if they could get somebody out to us. Nothing from them either. I called FILs insurance. They called a tow truck from a company nowhere even remotely close to where we were. Unacceptable.

Hubbs and I argued about should we wait, should we try to drive, should we have my dad bring us my car and have the Tahoe towed later. I finally decided that we were going to put the spare on the front and drive as far as we could while the other tire had air in it still.

We made it to a tire shop and got the tired put back on the wheels correctly. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The boys slept from the time we left the tire shop until we pulled up to MILs house. I was so tired that I didn't think I would be able to stay awake until midnight but I drank a Red Bull and chased that with a bottle of wine.

We played cards until midnight and then I finally got to go to bed.

What started out as being an 8 to 10 hour drive turned into a 14 hour nightmare. But I should be thankful that it wasn't worse than it was because it could have turned out way different.